Hollywood writers represented by the Writers Guild of America, East, and the Writers Guild of America, West, are on strike for the first time since 2007-08. As Alex Press writes in Jacobin, “The WGA (West and East) called the strike just before midnight on May 1, with its leadership unanimously voting for a work stoppage after six weeks of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over a new three-year contract that covers some 11,500 film and television writers. Announcing its decision, the union said that the bargaining table responses of the AMPTP, which consists of Amazon, Apple, Discovery-Warner, Disney, NBC Universal, Netflix, Paramount, and Sony, had ‘been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing.'” Even though overall production budgets have risen in the past decade, writer pay has declined, and the rise of streaming services has translated to lower residuals for writers, shorter paid work periods and more precarious employment, etc., with studios even threatening to replace more essential creative labor with AI software.
In this mini-cast, we speak about what led to the writers’ strike, and get an update from the picket line, with Sasha Stewart, a WGA-East council member and Writers Guild Award nominated TV writer, producer, and creator. With a background in improv and sketch comedy, Sasha has written for, among other productions, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore (Comedy Central) and The Fix with Jimmy Carr (Netflix), and she contributes to McSweeney’s and The New Yorker. She was also the Head Writer on the YA political thriller podcast Daughters of DC (iHeartRadio).
Click here to read the transcript: https://therealnews.com/hollywood-writers-are-striking-to-save-the-industry-from-corporate-destruction
Additional links/info: https://workingpeople.libsyn.com/hollywood-writers-strike-to-save-the-entertainment-industry-from-further-corporate-destruction-w-sasha-stewart
Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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AI writes …. for free
Could it be ?
It is very easy for the studios to win this fight with the writers. All the studios have to do is sit back and let the strike go on and on and on. The people who run the studios have billions of dollars. If the studios let the writers strike for the next 10 years I doubt any writer will have the savings to maintain them and their families without of running out of money first with no job. I don’t think any writers are billionaires who can sustain themselves financially and indefinitely in a 10 year long strike. However the studio heads sure can. Eventually the writers will run out of money and the studios won’t.
Not a problem , the local middle school has plenty of replacements to write stories that a ten year old comprehends.
Why did this autoplay from cumtown this is lame
Good riddance. Writers Unions only care about their union and Not about America. Horribly biased and one sided. Cant even watch late night TV anymore they are so bad.
🤖ai chatbots will replace you all. mwu ahah ha ha haaaaaaa…
“Privileged” is a word I hear all the time yet never getting to experience that word is starting to wear on my fuckin nerves . Maybe write a half decent , half original script and churn out some quality instead of stealing comic books (that are meant for kids btw) . I don’t see how this will affect anybody . Hope it actually brings down the entire industry . I for one , (and there are many of us ) could give two shits about the first world problems of Hollywood degenerates and sexually obtuse weirdos . Learn to code . Losers
In 2008 it was different because these were the people behind great movies such as the dark knight and iron man, now the best they can produce is she hulk 🤮😂
Those woke writers can go to hell.. ruining all our favorite content with "the message."
Who cares. Go and fix a road.
Eventually there will be no need for writers, actors or directors.. AI will generate everything from movies to music on demand.. good luck
PATHETIC WASTE OF TIME!!!! THESE WRITERS SHOULD BE ARRESTED AND TAKEN OFF THE STREETS!!!!
Id care more if woke Hollywood actually produced good content. Replace them all with AI I say.
writers want more money for the half baked toliet crap we have to call entertainment each night, Piss off to that give me bad Taco Bell and good vodka I can literally crap out 10 seasons worth of Emmy and Oscar gold in just 3 minutes
Nobody realizes these 30yr old toddlers are getting paid over $100k per year to write utterly awful scripts. Just think about gender-bending Transformers. Oh, and the demand to eliminate the AI competition shows how little talent they actually possess. I want to watch modern Hollywood devour itself, this is perfect.
why do all the women on this channel sound the same
All these Writers are the one who taught our kids how to curse and use bad words.. these drunk heads can't be the leaders to teach our generation how to have an attitude and as if smart talk is a way of life.. don't let them sloppy Second writers make this society sloppy Second… these writers pen became the nails for Jesus's coffin.. listen that girl curse.. trash
23:25 👍👍
I'm an ayatzee worker and it's costing me 10s of thousands of dollars Or the writers to go on strike. I hope they get what they want but I think these studios are just going to penny pinch themselves I to an early grave.
According to Thomas Lennon you cannot invest in what you write in Hollywood because you'll just get fired and replaced by another writer. You just a guy that wrote night at the Smithsonian among other films
I had a terrible experience with Triple A the other day and I'm never going to marry again. The same with McDonald's recently. You have to just not put your money in those places if you care about the worker
She stats at 8:10
They don't want the studios using artificial intelligence they want to do it themselves and call it their own work
If they are going to use AI to write scripts, I can just do that at home
Hollywood is unfair! Mr. Krabs is in there! Standing at the concession! Plotting his oppression!
Aren't they striking that there are still white guys in leading roles in New shows coming out?
Striking because writers don’t want to work “gig to gig” like everyone else in film and television just seems elitist.
Has there even been a decent movie since Inception?
17:45 Exactly this: The main consequence of adopting AI will be a race to mediocrity. AI will do the 'good enough' work, and humans (writers, other artists and creatives) can be hired on the cheap to clean up the mistakes.
So the AI is like the Professor, being recognized as the originator of the work by doing the first draft, and the humans are the assistants (the grad students if you will) who do the menial clean-up.
And then when all the good humans leave for greener pastures, all you're left with is the mediocre error-laden first draft. Ooooh boy.
Interview starts at minute "8:18" with eight questions! I'm gone! You can pay my time to make me hear this further.
Nobody watches TV or movies anymore anyway- even once AI take over TV is a done deal. TVs will be the new trash that crowds the streets. Just throw them away to make room for a beanbag-❤ meditation will be more entertaining than the BS this world has to offer !!!!!
Y’all would strike when AI- can write now always a day late a dollar short- too bad gotta be quicker than that!
U so see thru..
If they can afford a ten+ day strike then they make plenty of money regular Americans live paycheck to paycheck
Go get job with construction.u don’t want that tho..just want to sit on your ass and continue to help fk up society with hollyweird..smh
Yeah I can tell u part of this woke crap destroying the society with it..
Don’t underestimate the A.I.their developing to replace humans.they probably got sum underdevelopment with feelings that can write..get off your white high horse…
We’ll join the world of black musicians and entertainers. I knew it was just a matter of time b4 their world trickle up to yours
Those ungrateful writers going on a pointless strike deserve to be in jail for bullying Jenna Ortega
Just in time for AI to take over
Don't forget to unsubscribe from paid streaming services until the writers strike is over.
Just shows how unfunny the late shows are.
Shows how nobody needs any of them.
I just don’t feel bad for them.
More AI = Less Humanity
IATSE Local One, Local 26
I'm a member in good standing and I pledge not to ever cross a picket line!!
Peace love and solidarity ✊
They can strike or not. I don't care. Hollywood stopped producing anything worth watching years ago.
23:13 By giving writers low pay do you mean cost reduction?